diving reccomendations for thailand

[Maresreg]

i would like to know more about diving in phuket.ive never been but am planning a trip there in the fall winter months of this year.
whats the water temp/viz like at that time of year? are there lots of current effected sites there? what are some good sites to dive in phuket? what are the name of some shops there or dive resorts? whats the underwater life like? what kinds of things do you see? any big critters?whats the temp there at this time of year? are the dive boats crowded? what kinds of boats do you dive from if not on a live aboard?ive heard live aboard is the only way to go is this true? what are some of your favorite sites to go to?whats your favorite dive shop there?is it safe for americans to travel there now with all the iran stuff going on?i really want to go but im a little afraid to because ive never been and i know that there are alot of problems with americans traveling out of the country right now and i for one dont want to be a target.

what were some of your favorite site seeing things to do there?any help or info is appreciated.

 

[spog]

Wow, lot of questions.

First off, the World is safe for Americans, don't worry. And Thailand is especially safe - see the thread "Planning a trip to Thailand - safe to go?" in this forum.

In fact, if you browse through the Asia forum, you'll find a lot of nice and clever people giving you all the information you desire.

 

[stevenl]

In short, although it may not be possible to answer all the questions in short:
Yes, Phuket is perfectly safe.
Phuket has 4 diving areas: to the Northwest (Similans): worldclass diving, done on both liveaboards and daytrips; to the South: Racha Yai and Racha Noi, reasonable to good diving, both small life and bigger life (chances of Mantas for example); to the East Shark Point Area and Phi Phi: good diving, nice hard and soft corals, leopard sharks, reef sharks, small life like ghost pipe fish, frog fish, seahorses, etc. Visibility tends to be limited compared to the other sites in the area, expect here appx. 15 meters; and lastly the Southeast (Hin Daeng and Hin Muang), also possible on both daytrips and liveaboards. Again world class diving.

Watertemp appx. 29 Centigrade
Diveboats really depend on the company you book with. In general: if the diving is cheap, the boats will be more crowded than if the diving is a bit more expensive.

Most of the questions will be answered more in depth by basically all websites from the local operators.

Have fun

 

[cys]

I can highly recommend getting your boats arranged through Sunrise Divers. I wouldn't say that a live aboard is the only way to go. When we were in Phuket in Dec we did a live aboard and day boat trips.